28 Achaz was twenty years old when he began his reign, and he ruled sixteen years in Yerushalayim. But he did not do what was right from the perspective of Adonai, as David his ancestor had done. ² Rather, he lived in the manner of the kings of Isra’el and made cast metal images for the ba‘alim. ³ Moreover, he made offerings in the Ben-Hinnom Valley and even burned up his own children as sacrifices, in keeping with the horrible practices of the pagans, whom Adonai had thrown out ahead of the people of Isra’el. ⁴ He also sacrificed and offered on the high places, on the hills and under any green tree.

⁵ Because of this, Adonai his God handed him over to the king of Aram; they attacked him and carried off from his people a great number of captives, bringing them to Dammesek.

In addition, he was handed over to the king of Isra’el, who inflicted on him a great massacre. ⁶ For Pekach the son of Remalyah killed in Y’hudah 120,000 men in one day, all of them brave men, because they had abandoned Adonai, the God of their ancestors. ⁷ And Zikhri, a champion from Efrayim, killed Ma‘aseiyah the king’s son, ‘Azrikam the administrator of the household and Elkanah, who was second only to the king. ⁸ The people of Isra’el took captive from their kinsmen 200,000 wives, sons and daughters; they also captured from them much spoil, which they brought to Shomron.

⁹ But a prophet of Adonai named ‘Oded was there; he went out to meet the army coming to Shomron and said to them, “Look, it’s because Adonai the God of your fathers was angry with Y’hudah that he has handed them over to you, and you have slaughtered them in a fury that has reached up to heaven. ¹⁰ Now you intend to force the people from Y’hudah and Yerushalayim into subjection as your slaves; but haven’t you guilty deeds of your own that you committed against Adonai your God? ¹¹ Therefore listen to me now; and send the captives back, the people you have taken captive from your kinsmen; because the fierce anger of Adonai is on you.”

¹² At this, some of the leaders of the people of Efrayim — ‘Azaryahu the son of Y’hochanan, Berekhyahu the son of Meshilemot, Y’chizkiyah the son of Shalum and ‘Amasa the son of Hadlai — protested against those who were returning from the war, ¹³ saying to them, “Don’t bring the captives here, because you intend to do something that will bring guilt on us against Adonai. It will only add to our sins and guilt, for our guilt is great, and there is fierce anger against Isra’el.”

¹⁴ So the armed soldiers left the captives and the spoil there with the leaders and the whole community; ¹⁵ while the men named above took charge of the captives and from the spoil clothed those among them who were inadequately clothed, giving them garments and shoes, providing them food and drink and anointing them with oil. After placing all the weak among them on donkeys, they brought them to Yericho, the City of Date-Palms, to their kinsmen; only then did they return to Shomron.

¹⁶ It was at that time that King Achaz sent to the kings of Ashur to help him. ¹⁷ For again the people from Edom had come, attacking Y’hudah and carrying off captives. ¹⁸ The P’lishtim too had invaded the cities in the Sh’felah and in the Negev of Y’hudah; they had captured Beit-Shemesh, Ayalon, G’derot, Sokho with its villages, Timnah with its villages and Gimzo with its villages; and they settled there. ¹⁹ For Adonai brought Y’hudah low because of Achaz king of Isra’el, since he had caused disturbances in Y’hudah and acted very treacherously against Adonai.

²⁰ Tilgat-Piln’eser king of Ashur attacked and besieged Achaz instead of strengthening him — ²¹ even though Achaz had stripped the house of Adonai and the palaces of the king and princes and had given the plunder to the king of Ashur, it didn’t help him at all.

²² During his time of distress this same King Achaz added to his treachery against Adonai ²³ by sacrificing to the gods of Dammesek, who had attacked him, reasoning, “The gods of the kings of Aram helped them, so I will sacrifice to them, and then they’ll help me.” But they became the ruin of him and of all Isra’el. ²⁴ Achaz collected the equipment from the house of God, broke to pieces the equipment from the house of God and sealed the doors of the house of Adonai; then he made himself altars in every corner of Yerushalayim. ²⁵ In every city of Y’hudah he made high places for offering to other gods, thus provoking Adonai the God of his ancestors.

²⁶ Other activities of Achaz and his ways [of doing things], from beginning to end, are recorded in the Annals of the Kings of Y’hudah and Isra’el. ²⁷ Achaz slept with his ancestors, and they buried him in the city, in Yerushalayim; because they did not bring him to the tombs of the kings of Isra’el. Then Hizkiyahu his son took his place as king.

29 Hizkiyahu was twenty-five years old when he began his reign, and he ruled for twenty-nine years in Yerushalayim. His mother’s name was Aviyah the daughter of Z’kharyah. ² He did what was right from Adonai’s perspective, following the example of everything David his ancestor had done.

³ In the first month of the first year of his reign, he reopened the doors of the house of Adonai and repaired them. ⁴ Then he brought in the cohanim and L’vi’im, assembled them in the open space to the east, ⁵ and said to them, “Listen to me, L’vi’im: consecrate yourselves now, consecrate the house of Adonai the God of your ancestors, and remove the filth from the Holy Place. ⁶ For our ancestors acted treacherously, they did what is evil from the perspective of Adonai our God, they abandoned him, they turned their faces away from where Adonai lives and turned their backs on him. ⁷ They sealed the doors of the vestibule, put out the lamps and stopped burning incense and offering burnt offerings in the Holy Place to the God of Isra’el.

⁸ “Because of this, Adonai’s anger has settled on Y’hudah and Yerushalayim; and he has made them an object of horror, astonishment and mocking — as you can see with your own eyes. ⁹ Here, our ancestors have fallen by the sword; and on this account our sons, daughters and wives have gone into captivity.

¹⁰ “Now it is in my heart to make a covenant with Adonai the God of Isra’el, so that his furious anger will turn away from us. ¹¹ My sons, now is not a time for being negligent; for you are the ones Adonai chose to stand before him and serve him as his ministers, offering him incense.”

¹² Then the L’vi’im set about the task — Machat the son of ‘Amasai and Yo’el the son of ‘Azaryahu from the descendants of the K’hati; of the sons of M’rari, Kish the son of ‘Avdi and ‘Azaryahu the son of Yehallel’el; of the Gershuni, Yo’ach the son of Zimah and ‘Eden the son of Yo’ach; ¹³ of the descendants of Elitzafan, Shimri and Ye‘i’el; of the descendants of Asaf, Z’kharyahu and Matanyahu; ¹⁴ of the descendants of Heman, Yechi’el and Shim‘i; and of the descendants of Y’dutun, Sh’ma‘yah and ‘Uzi’el.

¹⁵ They gathered their kinsmen, consecrated themselves and, in keeping with the king’s order and Adonai’s words, went in to cleanse the house of Adonai. ¹⁶ The cohanim went in to cleanse the inner part of the house of Adonai; all the unclean things they found in the sanctuary of Adonai they brought out into the courtyard of the house of Adonai, where the L’vi’im took and carried them out to Vadi Kidron. ¹⁷ They began consecrating on the first day of the first month, and on the eighth day of the month they reached the vestibule of Adonai. Then they consecrated the house of Adonai in eight more days; so that on the sixteenth day of the first month, they had finished. ¹⁸ Then they went to Hizkiyahu the king in [the palace] and said, “We have cleansed all the house of Adonai, including the altar for burnt offerings, with all its equipment, and the table for the showbread, with all its equipment. ¹⁹ Moreover, we have reconditioned and consecrated all the articles that King Achaz threw out during his reign, when he was sinning; and they are there, in front of the altar of Adonai.”

²⁰ Next morning, Hizkiyahu the king got up early, gathered the leading men of the city and went up to the house of Adonai. ²¹ They brought seven bulls, seven rams, seven lambs and seven male goats as a sin offering for the kingdom, for the sanctuary and for Y’hudah; and he ordered the cohanim to offer them on the altar of Adonai. ²² After slaughtering the bulls, the cohanim took the blood and splashed it against the altar. Next, they slaughtered the rams and splashed the blood against the altar and also slaughtered the lambs and splashed the blood against the altar. ²³ After bringing the male goats for the sin offering close to the king and the assembly and laying their hands on them, ²⁴ the cohanim slaughtered them and made a sin offering with their blood on the altar to make atonement for all Isra’el; for the king had ordered that the burnt offering and the sin offering should be for all Isra’el.

²⁵ He stationed the L’vi’im in the house of Adonai with cymbals, lyres and lutes, in keeping with the order of David, Gad the king’s seer and Natan the prophet; for the mitzvah had come from Adonai through his prophets. ²⁶ The L’vi’im stood with the instruments of David and the cohanim with the trumpets. ²⁷ Hizkiyahu ordered that the burnt offering should be offered on the altar. The moment the burnt offering began, the song of Adonai also began, accompanied by the trumpets and the instruments of David king of Isra’el. ²⁸ The whole assembly prostrated themselves, the singers sang, and the trumpeters sounded; all this continued until the burnt offering was finished.

²⁹ When the offering was over, the king and everyone present with him bowed down and prostrated themselves. ³⁰ Then Hizkiyahu the king and the leaders ordered the L’vi’im to sing praises to Adonai, using the words of David and of Asaf the seer. They sang praises until they were filled with joy, and they bowed their heads and prostrated themselves.

³¹ Hizkiyahu responded by saying, “Now that you have consecrated yourselves to Adonai, come close, and bring sacrifices and thank offerings into the house of Adonai. So the community brought in sacrifices and thank offerings, and as many as were willing volunteered burnt offerings. ³² In all, the burnt offerings brought by the congregation totaled 70 bulls, 100 rams and 200 lambs; all these were for a burnt offering to Adonai. ³³ The consecrated gifts amounted to 600 oxen and 3,000 sheep. ³⁴ Only there weren’t enough cohanim to skin and butcher all the burnt offerings, so their colleagues the L’vi’im assisted them until the work was finished and the cohanim had consecrated themselves (for the L’vi’im had been more diligent to consecrate themselves than the cohanim). ³⁵ Besides the abundance of burnt offerings, there was the fat of the peace offerings and drink offerings for each burnt offering.

Thus the service of the house of Adonai was restored. ³⁶ Hizkiyahu and all the people rejoiced over what God had prepared for the people, since it had all happened so suddenly.

30 Then Hizkiyahu sent to all Isra’el and Y’hudah, and wrote letters also to Efrayim and M’nasheh, summoning them to the house of Adonai in Yerushalayim, to keep the Pesach to Adonai the God of Isra’el. ² For the king, his officials and the entire Yerushalayim community had agreed to keep the Pesach in the second month. ³ They had not been able to observe it at the proper time because the cohanim had not consecrated themselves in sufficient number; also the people had not assembled in Yerushalayim. ⁴ The idea had seemed right to the king and to the whole community; ⁵ so they issued a decree that it should be proclaimed throughout all Isra’el, from Be’er-Sheva to Dan, that they should come to keep the Pesach to Adonai the God of Isra’el at Yerushalayim; for only a few had been observing it as prescribed.

⁶ So runners went with the letters from the king and his officers throughout all Isra’el and Y’hudah. They conveyed the king’s order: “People of Isra’el! Turn back to Adonai, the God of Avraham, Yitz’chak and Ya‘akov! Then he will return to those of you who remain, who escaped capture by the kings of Ashur. ⁷ Don’t be like your ancestors, or like your kinsmen who sinned against Adonai the God of their ancestors, with the result that he allowed them to become an object of horror, as you see. ⁸ Don’t be stiffnecked now, as your ancestors were. Instead, yield yourselves to Adonai; enter his sanctuary, which he has made holy forever; and serve Adonai your God; so that his fierce anger will turn away from you. ⁹ For if you turn back to Adonai, your kinsmen and children will find that those who took them captive will have compassion on them, and they will come back to this land. Adonai your God is compassionate and merciful; he will not turn his face away from you if you return to him.”

¹⁰ So the runners passed from city to city through the territory of Efrayim and M’nasheh, as far as Z’vulun; but the people laughed at them and made fun of them. ¹¹ Nevertheless, some from Asher, M’nasheh and Z’vulun were humble enough to come to Yerushalayim. ¹² Also in Y’hudah the hand of God was at work, uniting their hearts to do what the king and the leaders had ordered in accordance with the word of Adonai.

¹³ Thus, many people assembled in Yerushalayim to keep the festival of Matzot in the second month, a huge crowd. ¹⁴ First they set about removing the altars that were in Yerushalayim, and they also removed all the altars for incense and threw them in Vadi Kidron. ¹⁵ Then they slaughtered the Pesach lamb on the fourteenth day of the second month. Ashamed of themselves, the cohanim and L’vi’im had consecrated themselves and brought burnt offerings into the house of Adonai. ¹⁶ Now they stood at their stations, as prescribed in the Torah of Moshe the man of God; the cohanim splashed the blood given to them by the L’vi’im. ¹⁷ For there were many in the assembly who had not consecrated themselves; therefore the L’vi’im were responsible for slaughtering the Pesach lambs and consecrating them to Adonai on behalf of everyone who was not clean. ¹⁸ For a large number of the people, especially from Efrayim, M’nasheh, Yissakhar and Z’vulun, had not cleansed themselves but ate the Pesach lamb anyway, despite what is written. For Hizkiyahu had prayed for them, “May Adonai, who is good, pardon ¹⁹ everyone who sets his heart on seeking God, Adonai, the God of his ancestors, even if he hasn’t undergone the purification prescribed in connection with holy things.” ²⁰ Adonai heard Hizkiyahu and healed the people.

²¹ The people of Isra’el there in Yerushalayim observed the festival of Matzot for seven days with great joy; while every day the L’vi’im and cohanim praised Adonai, singing to Adonai with the accompaniment of loud instruments. ²² Hizkiyahu spoke encouragingly to all the L’vi’im who were well skilled in the service of Adonai. Thus they ate throughout the festival for the seven days, offering sacrifices of peace offerings and giving thanks to Adonai, the God of their ancestors.

²³ Then the whole assembly decided to celebrate for yet another seven days, and they observed those seven days too with joy. ²⁴ For Hizkiyahu king of Y’hudah gave the assembly a thousand bulls and seven thousand sheep for offerings, while the leaders gave the assembly a thousand bulls and ten thousand sheep; and great numbers of cohanim consecrated themselves. ²⁵ All the people who had assembled from Y’hudah rejoiced, as did the cohanim and L’vi’im, those assembled from Isra’el, and the foreigners who had come from the territory of Isra’el or who lived in Y’hudah. ²⁶ So there was great joy in Yerushalayim; for since the time of Shlomo the son of David, king of Isra’el, there had been nothing like it in Yerushalayim. ²⁷ Then the cohanim, who were L’vi’im, stood up and blessed the people; [Adonai] heard their voice, and their prayer came up to the holy place where he lives, heaven.